The West Potomac Boys Basketball regular season is officially coming to a close with the final game on Wednesday. The team started the season off strong with a record of 9-3 but the momentum began to fade as the season went on. With many tough matchups and a couple upsets, the team finished the season with a solid 12-10 record.
West Po finished 5th in the Occoquan Region and 4th in the Patriot District having a similar record as their season before. These results weren’t exactly what the team was shooting for, but are still impressive with the injuries they suffered early in the season and the tough competition they faced. That includes Brendan Forti, who was a key role in their offense in previous years. He suffered a leg injury before the season started, which impacted how the team played and performed moving forward.
With the end of the regular season, it’s time for the playoffs with West Po’s first game being played against West Springfield, who they just lost to. West Po played them twice during the season both times ending with the same result. However, the games were very close with the first score ending 45-43 and the second ending 64-60. Despite that, West Po players seem eager to play them and believe that they will win this fight no matter the previous scores. However, they seem to have a slight disadvantage in this matchup that could affect the outcome.
On Wednesday’s game against West Springfield where they ended up losing by 4 in a high scoring game. The final score was close with Iverson Adomako being their leading scorer with 18 points. Now not only did this loss affect their regular season record, but it also decided where West Po’s first playoff game would be played. Instead of the game being played at home, it will now be played at West Springfield which can prove to be a big disadvantage.
“We won’t get to play in a gym that we are used to and practice in everyday. There’s also not the same atmosphere as there is in the crowd when games are at home,” Jack Coulter, Junior shooting forward said.
Playing at a court they aren’t used to can be challenging and hard to adjust to. Not only that, but without a full student section cheering them on, it may affect their confidence on the court. These factors give West Springfield an advantage while West Po will be playing at a disadvantage.
However, West Po is still optimistic that they can pull off the win against West Springfield. After losing the first two games against them, they are excited for the matchup and ready to fight for the win. No matter the disadvantages coming into play, West Po is still going into this match confident that they’ll get the win.
“This is going to be a close match but I know we can pull off the win,” Coulter said.
